Melodie K

Savories

Pispili, Cheesy Albanian Cornbread [Recipe]

Pispili, Albanian cornbread with leeks and feta cheese is a delicious snack or side dish for your small group.


The women spread supper—a large bowl of cheese melted in butter, into which we dipped our maize bread, and very good it was. ~ Edith Durham, High Albania

Have you ever tasted Pispili, the Albanian cornbread seasoned with leek and crumbly feta cheese?

This is a perfect dish for parties and other group gatherings. It’s only 45 minutes from prep until it comes out of the oven, steaming hot, ready to be sliced, and pounced upon.

Of course, you could bake a small pan all for yourself, too. Then have a generous slice with, say, hot soup one day and a dish of stew the next until it’s all gone.

Good plans both.

One thing for sure: if you’ve never been to Albania or tasted Albanian food, a chunk of Pispili will be a tasty (and filling!) introduction. 

You’ll find, in this one dish, some of the very best foods that each region of this ancient European country has to offer. These include:

  • Corn, the staple food from the mountainous North.
  • Eggs, from the Central Albania, where both poultry and fish from the Adriatic Sea is plentiful.
  • Feta cheese, from Southern Albania where dairy farms rule along with olive and citrus groves.

And, finally, leeks that grow in various varieties all over Albania. 

THIS RECIPE COMES FROM THE KITCHEN OF DONIKA, THE WRITER & CHEF IN CHARGE AT HER BLOG, WHEN FETA MET OLIVE.

Donika is Canadian-born, but her ancestry is Albanian and her ties to those Albanian roots are strong. Many of her recipes are old family favorites; this recipe for Albanian cornbread with feta & leek is one of these.

Pispili ~ Feta & Leek Cornbread

Donika
Albanian cornbread with feta and leek ~ Pispili
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 45 mins
Course Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 12

Equipment

  • 9" x 13" baking pan/dish (or pan of similar size)
  • whisk
  • wooden spoon or spatula

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup yogurt
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1½ cups flour
  • ½ cup fine corn flour
  • 1-2 sticks leek depending on the size
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400F, grease a 9" x 13" pan or a pan size close to that.
  • Prepare leeks, cut them into bite-sized pieces, and rinse.
  • Mix eggs, yogurt, and oil in a bowl; add the cornflour into the egg mixture and whisk together; let sit for 3 minutes.
  • Sift together the flour, pepper, salt and bang powder with a whisk; add flour to the egg mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula.
  • Add the leeks and feta cheese; combine with the wooden spoon or your hands.
  • Or you can add the leeks and feta cheese to the egg mixture first, then add in the flour mixture.
  • Pour over in pan and press evenly across pan.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cut into squares. Enjoy warm.
Keyword cornbread, picnic food, small group, teatime snack
Pispili is most delicious served warm, fresh out of the oven. Cut it into squares and enjoy!
Pispili fresh out of the oven, before cutting into squares.

TIPS & TRICKS LEARNED MY FIRST TIME MAKING PISPILI

  • The recipe doesn’t specify a type of yogurt to use. So I chose a non-fat plain Greek yogurt and happily discovered that its thick consistency produces sublimely creamy results.
  • You can save a few dollars by crumbling a pack of feta cheese yourself rather than buying it pre-crumbled. It’s easy: I placed the pack in a bowl and jabbed it a few times with my handheld chopper. And just like the “extreme ways” Moby sings about at the end of the Bourne movies, it fell apart.
  • When the time comes to “pour” the batter into the pan, don’t worry if it’s so dense that you have to help it get there with a spoon. (At first, I thought — oh, no, I’ve made it too thick!) Just continue following the directions and press the batter evenly across the pan with your wooden spoon. And, like me, you’ll have a finished dish that both looks and tastes terrific and is deliciously moist.

WHAT MAKES THIS RECIPE SPECIAL?

The magic in this cornbread lies in the balance between the tangy Feta cheese and the delicately mild leeks. It’s a yin-yang thing, Albanian-style.

So even if you’ve thought of Feta cheese as a “strong tasting” cheese, as I did (and do), you may still end up liking this dish. And once you catch yourself and some of your peeps reaching for seconds, well, you may have to rethink your ideas about Feta entirely.

But enough talk about cooking. Let’s cook Albanian already!

Slice of Pispili ~ cheesy Albanian cornbread atop a cream-colored dish.

WHAT NOW

  1. For another perfect-for-baking in a glass dish recipe, check out this sweet and spicy dessert from New Mexico.
  2. Expand your at-home dining menu by adopting more delicious recipes from When Feta Met Olive. Donika’s collection includes beaucoup dishes from Turkey and throughout the Mediterranean as well as Albania.

Qabili Palau, Sweet & Savory Crowd-Pleaser [Recipe]

A white platter laden with Qabili Palau, the national dish of Afghanistan: carrot, black raisins, almond slivers, and basmati rice atop chicken.
Are you happy they’ve invited you to make a dish for your next home group meeting but haven’t a clue what to make?

A small group gathering is an ideal occasion to introduce your crew to Qabili Palao, the national dish of Afghanistan.

For one thing, Qabili Palao packs big flavor and portions hearty enough to satisfy a small crowd. And for another, it’s likely a dish that no one in your crowd has tasted before. 

Fragrant basmati rice, chicken, carrots, almonds, and raisins are the primary ingredients.

What’s more, this recipe boasts a unique spice blend that includes slightly sweet cardamom, mildly bitter cumin, salt, pepper, and even a bit of sugar. The spices work together with the carrots, nuts, and raisins to enhance the flavor of the rice and perfume the entire meal as well.

Qabili Palau carrot, raisin, and almond mix is as fragrant and colorful as it is flavorful.

The result is a dish that’s deliciously spicy but in no ways spicy hot. 

So all of your friends and family members — even those who “can’t eat hot food” — can enJoy Qabili Palau. It delivers maximum flavor without any burn.

This sweet and savory rice dish will leave each member of your small group feeling well-fed and well-loved.

So what’s the name of this dish again?

Qabili Palau. Afghans originally called it Kabuli Palau, after Kabul, their capital city. But as the dish became more and more popular, the name changed to Qabili Palau. 

“Qabili” means well-able and once everyone started making this dish, the bar of excellence got higher. The home cook who could make a stand-out version came to be considered quite skillful in the kitchen — and superior marriage material. (More about this later.)

This Qabili Palau recipe comes from the kitchen of Humaira Ghilzai, writer at Afghan Culture Unveiled.

Humaira was born in Afghanistan and spent her childhood there. However, for decades now, she has been living in the U.S. So she’s more than familiar with what the real deal Afghan dish should taste like. And she also knows exactly what foods available in American grocery stores work best in bringing out the authentic flavor of Afghan cooking.

Kabuli/Qabili Palau – Afghanistan’s National Dish

Humaira Ghilzai
Rice with chicken topped with carrots, almonds, and raisins.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 35 mins
Cook Time 1 hr 10 mins
Total Time 1 hr 45 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Central Asian Cuisine
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • sauté pan, large
  • Dutch oven
  • frying pan
  • colander

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups long grain basmati rice
  • 10 chicken thighs & drumsticks
  • 4 cups diced onions
  • ½ cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil, divided
  • 5 tsp. salt
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 cup black raisins
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1½ tsp. ground cardamom
  • ½ tsp. ground black pepper
  • 12 cups water
  • 2 tbsp. browning sauce such as Kitchen Bouquet (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
  • Immerse rice in a bowl of water and drain in a colander. Repeat this step 3 times.
  • Choose a sauté pan that is at least a couple inches deep and large enough to fit all the chicken. Pour ½ cup of the oil in the pan and sauté the onions over high heat, stirring quickly, until brown (5-10 minutes). Don't burn them. 
  • Add the chicken to the pan and sprinkle with 3 tsp. of the salt. Cook the chicken over medium-high heat for 6 minutes, turning from time to time so all sides turn golden brown.  The onion will start to caramelize and turn into a thick sauce.
    qabili-palao-sautéed-chicken-with-rice
  • If using the (optional) Kitchen Bouquet sauce, add it now, and let it simmer. *
  • While the chicken is cooking, in a large frying pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the carrots and cook until tender and a deep orange hue, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Keep a close eye on this to make sure you do not overcook them. Once the carrots are tender, add the raisins, almonds, and sugar to the carrots. Stir quickly over medium-high heat and keep stirring for about 3 minutes. The raisins will look plump; the carrots will take on a nice sweet flavor. Remove from heat and package the carrots into a sealed aluminum foil pouch about the size of a small paperback novel. 
    qabili-palau-foil-wrapped-carrot-raisins-almonds
  • Remove the chicken pieces from the broth and set aside.  Stir the cumin, cardamom, and black pepper into the broth. Continue to cook on low for 5 minutes to allow it to thicken.  
  • Meanwhile, measure 12 cups of water and the remaining 2 tsp. of salt into a large Dutch oven or ovenproof* pot with a fitted lid.  Bring it to a boil.  Add the rice to the water and boil until it is al dente (nearly cooked, though still slightly crunchy). This will take just a few minutes depending on the rice you use. You will have to taste it to check for doneness.  Do not overcook it. 
  • Immediately strain the rice through a colander.  Put the rice back into the cooking pot and add the sauce from the chicken.  Mix well.  Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the rice.  Set the aluminum package of carrots on top of the rice.  This will keep the carrots warm and deepen the flavors without mixing with the rice yet.
  • Bake the rice for 15 minutes in 500 degrees then drop the temperature down to 250 degrees. Cook for another 20 minutes. 
  • Arrange the chicken pieces on a large platter, cover with the rice. Sprinkle the carrots, raisins, and almonds on the rice. Serve with a simple salata.

Notes

* Any italicized words you see in the recipe instructions are those I’ve added to clarify that specific step. I don’t want anything to get in the way of your enJoying Ms. Ghilzai’s delicious recipe to the full!
Keyword small group, special occasions

Tips & Tricks Learned My First Time Making Qabili Palau

  • Don’t let the number of steps scare you off. Follow them, one by one, and you’ll see how easy this is to do. 
  • Ground cardamom is more widely available than whole pod cardamom. But if you do find cardamom pods, I recommend you buy it and grind the pods yourself (as I did, with a wooden pestle) for the freshest taste.
  • The recipe doesn’t specify a type of onion to use. However, I used yellow onion since it’s the type Ms. Ghilzai has recommended for this dish in the past, and the taste blended in like butter.
  • It may feel strange to cook rice to an al dente texture similar to spaghetti. (It did to me.) But resist the urge to keep cooking the rice and get that pot off the stove. Then “immediately strain the rice through a colander” as directed. Your rice will continue to cook in the oven, to later emerge marvelously fluffy. 

Bonus Tip

Sprinkling the top of the dish with rosewater — I use this one— just before serving adds a delicate fragrance that whets the appetite and makes the whole thing smell truly beautiful! 

What makes this Qabili Palao recipe special?

What makes this recipe pop, besides the spices and carrot-raisin blend, is the “sauce.” That is, the savory juices created as the meat, oil, and onions simmer together. It’s this sauce that you mix with your perfectly “al dente” rice 😉 before topping it with the other fixings and putting it in the oven.

So just imagine, your already fragrant, tasty basmati rice becoming even more flavorful as it bakes.

But enough imagining for now. Let’s cook Afghan! 

WHAT NOW

  1. What’s all this about cooking Qabili Palau and Afghan women getting married? Learn all about Qabili Palau here.
  2. Expand your at-home dining menu by adopting more delicious recipes from Afghan Culture Unveiled.

Superstars of Northern Italian Cuisine: A Regional Tour

 

Risotto alla milanese, this one decorated with red saffron threads, is one of the most colorful superstars of Northern Italian cuisine; image is "Italian saffron risotto" by kuvona.

Italian food really reflects the people. It reflects like a prism that fragments into regions. ~ Lidia Bastianich

If you’ve grown up believing fabulous plates of pasta, pizza, and bread were the greatest pleasures Italian cooking had to offer, hold on to your hats, dear foodie explorer, there’s MORE.

The foods of Naples and other cities in Southern Italy, from where the majority of Italian families in the U.S. hail, are just the tip of the iceberg.

Or, rather, the tip of the Italian boot.

Outline of Italy, including the Italian "boot," Sardinia, and Sicily, showing the location of the cities of Aosta (Valle d'Aosta), Otranto (Puglia) and Ragusa (Sicily).From the city of Aosta at the top of the Italian boot to Otranto in its heel tip is a distance of over 780 miles. From Otranto to Ragusa on the island of Sicily you’d have to drive another 450 miles.

As you can imagine, there is a world of difference in climate, landscape, and therefore, cuisine, as you travel from south to north. 

Just when you think you’ve gotten a handle on how a “typical” Italian meal is put together ~ with olive oil, pasta, and tangy but meatless marinara at the heart ~ you drive up the road a bit and it all changes.

It is WAY up that road, in the eight regions that comprise Northern Italy, that you’ll find a rich and diverse cuisine where rice, potatoes, and cream sauces play the starring roles. 

Northern Italian cuisine with its emphasis on local products including dairy, corn, rice ~ Italy is Europe’s largest rice producer ~ will surprise you.

So make it a point to sample some Northern Italian cooking at your next opportunity.

For now, whet your appetite with a look at the specialty dishes of each of Northern Italy’s eight regions (listed in clockwise order, starting with Valle d’Aosta in the far northwest): 

  1. Valle d’Aosta
    The richness of Northern Italian cuisine owes as much to Italy's proximity to the surrounding seas and nations as its history as a union of multiple city-states, each with its own unique ways with food.

    Eight of Italy’s 20 regions lay in the area known as “Northern Italy.” Northern Italy ranges from Valle d’Aosta, an alpine valley that borders France and Switzerland to the southernmost portion of Emilia-Romagna, a large region that nearly spans the width of the Italian peninsula, from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic.

  2. Piemonte 
  3. Lombardia
  4. Trentino-Alto Adige
  5. Friuli-Venezia Giulia
  6. Veneto
  7. Emilia-Romagna
  8. Liguria

I expect you’ll find a new favorite of your own among them because every single one of these regional specialties is de-licious. And, by the way, you won’t see a single plate of spaghetti among them.

 

Fonduta con Crostini

Fonduta con crostini is an example of Northern Italian cuisine from Aosta in Valle d'Aosta. It's a fondue made with Fontina, a regional cheese, and milk, butter, and egg yolks; perfect for dipping toasted bread.

From Aosta in Valle d’Aosta. Dip toasted bread into this fondue made with Fontina, a cheese exclusive to the region. The mild taste and fragrant aroma of Fontina cheese have been thrilling Italians and others who appreciate good eating for more than seven centuries.

 

Grissini

Grissini or Italian breadsticks are, perhaps, the most widely eaten creations of Northern Italian cuisine from Torino (Turin) in Piemonte.

From Torino (Turin) in Piemonte. The story of the long, thin breadsticks known as grissini goes like this: Back in the 17th century, the Duke of Savoy, had a tough time digesting regular bread. So a local baker created an especially thin and crunchy breadstick as a cure.

Apparently, those breadsticks did the trick since the duke lived long enough to become King of both Sicily and Sardinia. And within a century’s time, grissini had become popular enough throughout Western Europe for Napoleon Bonaparte to have become a big fan.

Today, you’ll find them around the globe, with a variety of coverings. These include caramelized onions, fresh herbs, and sesame seeds ~ like the grissini pictured here.

 

Risotto alla Milanese

From the stylish Northern Italian city of Milano in Lombardia (Lombardy) comes this risotto alla milanese seasoned with saffron; image is "Italian saffron risotto" by kuvona.

From Milano (Milan) in Lombardia. Rich and flavorful risottos are legend in Lombardy, which is arguably the leading rice-producing area in Europe. The most popular is this risotto alla milanese seasoned with saffron, the fragrant and fire-colored spice that Mediterranean cooks have prized since the time of ancient Romans. 

 

Knödel con lo Speck

Knödel con lo speck or dumplings with speck, a lightly-smoked ham. This superstar of Northern Italian cuisine hails from Trentino-Alto Adige. Image: Knodel con lo speck by comugnero silvana

From Trento in Trentino-Alto Adige. Look no further if you’ve been seeking a new dish that’s both filling and economical. Knödel con lo speck, also called canederli con lo speck is a dish of bread dumplings laced with bits of lightly-smoked ham called speck. This dish is a delicious way to stretch a dollar and put your stale bread to good use.

 

Frico

Frico is an example of Northern Italian cuisine from Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Here you see it done crispy (as cheese crisps) and soft (as a secondo piatto or second course dish, with potato.) Image: Frico by comugnero silvana.

From Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia comes frico. You’ll find it in two versions, “crispy” and “soft,” and the key ingredient in both is well-aged Montasio cheese.

Imagine the crunchiest cheesy snack you could put in a bowl for watching your favorite TV show and you’ve got “crispy” frico. These are cheese crisps you can make by frying Montasio in hot oil. (That’s right. Hit the road, Cheese Doodles.)

No less delicious is “soft” frico. Slow-cook this pancake of cheese melded with potato, butter, and aromatic herbs for a feel-good food guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

 

Zalèti

A dish of zaleti with your morning hot beverage can be a delicately sweet introduction to Northern Italian cuisine.

From Venezia (Venice) in Veneto. These cornflour and raisin cookies get their name from their warm golden color: the word giallo is Italian for yellow and gialleti or “little yellow ones” when spoken in Venetian dialect sounds like zalèti. (The “z” is soft, like a hiss.)

Now then, as to how to enjoy these delicately sweet cookies at home, let me count the ways… for breakfast instead of muffins or toast, as a special treat with tea, or, if you like to dip, try dipping warm zalèti into your hot milk in the morning,  your hot tea at midday and, if you drink wine at the end of your evening meal, you can dip them it that, too. It’s all good.

 

Tagliatelle con Ragù Bolognese

Tagliatelle con Ragù Bolognese, Italy's national dish, originates in Emilia-Romagna. Image: Tagliatelle with ragù bolognese by uckyo.

From Bologna in Emilia-Romagna. Enjoy tagliatelle, an egg pasta typical of Northern Italy, covered with a slow-cooked meat sauce, or ragù. The traditional Bologna-style ragù includes ground beef, tomato purée, vegetables as well as white wine, whole milk and butter (or extra virgin olive oil.)

Ragù Bolognese, the essence of Northern Italian comfort food, is wonderful stuff. So much so that it reigns as the national dish of Italy. (And in a land that has gifted the world with ravioli, lasagna, and pizza, that’s saying something.)

 

Linguine al Pesto

From Genoa in Liguria ~ comes a country-style cuisine where herbs and vegetables are major, as in this dish of linguine with pesto, potatoes, and peas. The image, "Linguine with pesto, potatoes and peas," is by Shariel.

From Genova (Genoa) in Liguria. Maybe it’s no surprise that the Mediterranean port city of Genoa, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, is known for its freshest of fresh seafood. Wherever you go in the region is less than two hours away from the sea.

But did you know that aromatic herbs and country-style vegetables are major in Ligurian cuisine as well? Linguine tossed with potatoes, peas, and pesto ~ a basil sauce original to Liguria now savored throughout the world ~ is an excellent example of this flavorful fact.  

Now then, you have before you a world of choices that are beyond tasty.  Fresh seafood, rich risottos, satisfying desserts …! So here’s a question that may be hard for you to answer  (but there’s no way you can go wrong):

In which region would you begin your Northern Italian cuisine tour? Leave a comment below.

PHOTO CREDITS

Fonduta con crostini by alexandra; Grissini ai semi di sesamo by Alessio Orrù; Italian saffron risotto by kuvona;  Knodel con lo speck by comugnero silvana; Frico by comugnero silvana; Tagliatelle with ragù bolognese by uckyo; Linguine with pesto potatoes and peas by Shariel.

Japan Travel Notes from the World’s Top Chefs

Table setting for Japanese food with copper-rimmed white dinner plate and hashi (chopsticks) atop a maki placemat.

An adventure with Japanese food not only has the power to influence your individual cooking style but, more than that, …

What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents. ~ Michael Chiarello

Have you ever noticed how the familiar taste or aroma of certain foods can transport us to the places we first experienced them? 

It’s like what happens whenever I bring fresh corn tortillas home from the store. I always sniff them ~ can’t resist it and don’t want to ~ and as soon as I catch that hint of lime…

… I’m back in central Mexico, a high school student having a meal with her homestay family.

Maybe it’s the same with you.

So, you get to wondering . . . if the mere contact with a favorite food can inspire us to want to wander, how much more inspiring might the memories of professional chefs be?

After all, they work with food day in and day out.

Turns out, a variety of culinary aces have had memorable food experiences in countries far from their own. And I’ve chosen some of their most delicious stories to share with you.

Today’s inspiring memories come courtesy of Japan and Japanese food:

ELIZABETH ANDOH, food/culture educator and author

The woman who would become the foremost interpreter of Japanese cuisine to English speakers arrived in Japan as a University of Michigan graduate student. Right away, she began studying Japanese and focused on food as a way of understanding the culture. More than five books and four decades later, Elizabeth Andoh still lives in Japan, teaching others how to appreciate and prepare the food of the country she has come to know and love.

Noodles have a special place in the hearts and bellies of the Japanese.

When the first steamy days of summer arrive, icy sōmen noodles appear on family tables throughout Japan.

(Excerpted from Andoh’s book, Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen.)

Hiyashi-somen (Chilled Japanese noodles) by Julia Frost

DAVID CHANG, chef and restauranteur

Once upon a time, Chang was teaching English in southern Honshu, puzzling out what he was going to do once his teaching gig was over. And then — BAM! — his noodle habit became an obsession. Chang’s spare time “research” in Japanese noodle shops would lead him to found the multi-national Momofuku restaurant group.

I lived a few train stops away from the school in a little town called Izumi-Tottori. There wasn’t much there: a maki roll place, a sushi place, a dumpling house, and a ramen shop. The ramen shop was near the train station, and it was always bustling . . .  I’d sit there – first at this place, and later at any ramen or noodle shop I could get a seat in — by myself, shrouded in the sound of slurping noodles and the racket of the kitchen turning out bowl after bowl of soup, and just watch the place work.

(Excerpted from Chang’s book, Momofuku.)

Bowl of ramen with charsiu pork, green onions, hard boiled egg, and nori.

RENÉ REDZEPI, chef and restauranteur

Many consider Redzepi’s Copenhagen-based restaurant, Noma, the best in the world. Still, with all his accomplishments, the chef was so taken with Japanese cuisine and dedication to craftsmanship, he temporarily relocated Noma and its staff from the Danish capital to Tokyo in 2015. There was yet, Redzepi thought, much to learn.

I’d dreamt of something like this for years, since I was a young cook without the money to travel . . . . . I sat for my first kaiseki meals, multi-course dinners steeped in history and more balanced than the long tasting menus some of us chefs are used to eating and cooking. Dishware and the design of the restaurant are adjusted to reflect the season. Time of year dictates everything. This ritual taught me so much about meticulousness, lightness, and what seasonality really means. 

(Read more about René Redzepi in Japan here.)

Kaiseki dinner spread by Alyson Hurt

No doubt about it, Japan is a one-of-a-kind place. And now we know that an adventure with Japanese food not only has the power to influence your individual cooking style; it can also change the course of your life.

PHOTO CREDITS

Feature image, Japanese Food Empty Dish, by ohsuriya; Hiyashi-somen (Chilled Japanese Noodles) by Julia Frost, and (Kaiseki) Dinner Spread by Alyson Hurt.

Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

“Authenticity” is nice, but flavor is what counts.

The Spaghetti Carbonara recipe I’ve followed for decades, one I can vouch for, comes from a vintage cookbook called…

The Italian Cookbook.

Maria Luisa Taglienti's "The Italian Cookbook" has an delicious and easy-to-execute Spaghetti Carbonara recipe.
I found “The Italian Cookbook” among my mother’s things when I was nine year’s old and plan to keep on using it ’til I’m 99, even though the poor thing’s spine fell off years ago…!

The author, Maria Luisa Taglienti, composed all of the recipes specifically with the mid-20th century American cook in mind.

Much like Julia Child did for Americans and French food with her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Taglienti aimed to help American cooks master the art of Italian cooking with minimal fuss.

So, as you may have guessed by now, you won’t find guanciale — the cured pork jowls Italians typically use to prepare carbonara — mentioned anywhere in this book.

Instead, you’ll find bacon.

That’s right, American bacon.

But here’s the thing: great taste trumps authenticity for authenticity’s sake any day.

And, Baby, whether you make this Spaghetti Carbonara recipe with guanciale or bacon, it will be GOOD.

In fact, having sampled truly delicious plates of Carbonara with guanciale at a variety of restaurants in Rome, I still choose to make it with good old American bacon from time to time.

All of the hungry people I’ve made this Spaghetti Carbonara recipe have left the table deliriously happy and satisfied.

Now it’s your turn: make this carbonara and thrill your hungry people, too.

(NOTE: The items in italics and the “Notes” section are additions to Maria Luisa Taglienti’s recipe, based on my own experience with it.)

Print

Spaghetti Carbonara

Prep Time15 mins
Active Time10 mins
Total Time15 mins
Cuisine: Italian
Yield: 5 servings
Author: Maria Luisa Taglienti
Cost: moderate

Materials

Ingredients

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 6 slices bacon, diced fine
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ⅓ cup dry white wine
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature, slightly beaten with
  • ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese with extra for garnish
  • ⅓ cup grated Romano cheese with extra for garnish
  • freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water for 7 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile…
    Place oil and bacon in a small skillet and sauté until bacon is crisp.
    Then add the wine and cook over medium flame until the wine has evaporated.
    Taste spaghetti for salt, drain and return to hot saucepan.
    Add to it the eggs and cheese mixture, plenty of black pepper and very HOT bacon fat, mixing well.
    The egg mixture should attach itself to the spaghetti and be cooked by its heat so care should be taken that it is not allowed to cool before the addition of the egg mixture. If, after thorough mixing, the eggs still look raw, place the saucepan over a low flame for a minute or so, stirring constantly.
    Place on a hot serving dish, garnish with the extra grated cheese and serve immediately.

Notes

Substitutions
  • Rather use guanciale? Substitute it for the bacon specified in the recipe, one-to-one. (Also meat lovers who are preparing this as THE meal, rather than a single course in a meal, feel free to use up to 8 slices or 8 ounces of guanciale or bacon.) 
  • Using ONLY Pecorino Romano (instead of a combination of equal portions of Parmesan and Romano cheeses) is also a good and popular option; let your tastebuds decide.  
 
Product Recommendations
  • The thicker and fattier the bacon, the better. Slab bacon is ideal. Then, slice and then dice it into 1/3″ long strips (as you’d do with guanciale.) This allows the meat to get deliciously crispy outside yet stay juicy inside.
  • Impatience to get started with this recipe might tempt you to settle for using one of the pre-packaged grated domestic brands of cheese available at most every supermarket, but please DON’T DO IT.  You’d be cheating yourself and your hungry people big time. Instead, look for fresh high-quality domestic Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Or better yet, good Parmegiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano cheeses imported from Italy. Just remember to decrease the amount of salt you typically use in your pasta water since Pecorino Romano is plenty salty.
  • As to pasta brands, De Cecco is top of my list, then Barilla. Also, if you’re sensitive to gluten, Barilla’s line of gluten-free pasta is quite good.   

What Now?

  1. Maybe you’re wondering: What’s all this about guanciale? If so, learn more about spaghetti carbonara, one of the most beloved Italian pasta dishes in the world.
  2. Ready to make this delicious dish? Super! Share it on Instagram when it’s done and tag me @melodiek575. I’d love to see your handiwork!
  3. Get better acquainted with the author of The Italian Cookbook.